Dentist Accused of Breaking Boy's Leg Gives Up His License

Published: November 2, 2000

NEWARK, Nov. 1—
A children's dentist accused of breaking his patients' bones while restraining them to work on their teeth agreed today to give up his license. He will be allowed to apply for reinstatement in three years after retraining and a psychiatric examination.

State officials called the penalties imposed against the dentist, Kevin P. Ward, the harshest ever against a New Jersey dentist. ''This is the most far-reaching and toughest penalty we could craft under the law,'' said Mark Herr, director of the state Division of Consumer Affairs, which oversees the state Board of Dentistry.

Dr. Ward, an East Stroudsburg, Pa., dentist who practiced in Union City, N.J., was in the middle of a trial before an administrative law judge on whether his license could be revoked when he reached a settlement with the state.

The board indefinitely suspended Dr. Ward's license in April, shortly after a 5-year-old boy broke his leg in Dr. Ward's office while, the boy's parents say, the dentist performed a root canal on the wrong tooth.

Twelve other patients came forward to say that Dr. Ward hurt them during treatment at the Children's Dental Center, including a 10-year-old girl who broke her thumb and a 4-year-old girl who broke her wrist.

Mr. Herr said that had the trial been decided in the state's favor, Dr. Ward would have had the right to immediately reapply for reinstatement. Now, Mr. Herr said, ''he can't even contemplate reapplying'' for three years.

Dr. Ward issued a statement thanking 100 colleagues and patients who he said were prepared to testify on his behalf, and added, ''Surely, we would have prevailed.''

As part of the settlement, the state dismissed the complaint against Dr. Ward. His lawyer said that meant the state could not take the complaint into consideration if he reapplied for a license, but Mr. Herr disagreed.

Dr. Ward, who had been allowed to do paperwork at his Union City practice during the temporary suspension, has four months to sell his business, said John Dizzia, his lawyer. He agreed to pay $60,000 to cover the state costs of prosecuting him, the lawyer said.

Before he is reinstated, Dr. Ward will have to take 60 credit hours of continuing education in dentistry, Mr. Dizzia said. Half of those hours will have to be devoted to patient management, which includes training on proper restraint techniques, Mr. Dizzia said.

Dr. Ward will also have to submit to a psychiatric evaluation to determine his fitness to practice medicine, Mr. Dizzia said. He has maintained that the restraining techniques he used on patients who were often unruly were in compliance with accepted medical standards.

Dr. Ward was not criminally charged with any of the incidents with his patients, nor with the 1984 death of a 4-year-old boy who overdosed on anesthesia under his care. The board suspended his license for a year in 1987 but stayed it, meaning he was never barred from practice.